Category: Food Business

OSI Group has operated in the Chicago area for many decades. The company began as a meat market in 1909. Its founder, Otto Kolschowsky grew his small business into a local meat distribution company for other food service providers. He called his startup company Otto & Sons. Otto and Sons gradually expanded over the years. However, it got its big break when they were recruited by Ray Kroc of McDonald’s in the 1950s. Ray Kroc was opening a restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois and needed a meat distributor.

Otto and Sons demonstrated the ability to support the ambitions of the growing organization. They brought several innovations to the business relationship such as the patty cutting machine and cryogenic freezing. Cryogenic freezing allowed Otto and Sons to maintain a huge inventory of meat while preserving its freshness. Otto and Sons were able to deliver their product to McDonald’s in the exact manner they wanted it with the patty cutting machine. Before long they became the exclusive meat distributor to the McDonald’s organization.

OSI Group purchased the Tyson Foods plant in Chicago for 7.4 million dollars. The plant was in jeopardy of shutting down. If the shutdown went through there would have been a loss of nearly 500 jobs. OSI seized the opportunity to expand its operation and preserve the livelihood of so many workers that had spent their entire careers at Tyson Foods. Many were offered positions with OSI.

Otto and Sons became OSI Industries in 1975. It expanded its operations to include other fast-food chains such as Papa John’s Pizza, Pizza Hut, Subway, and Starbucks. There are 65 plants located in 17 different countries. OSI was named by Forbes as the 136th largest privately owned company in the United States. It provides tremendous job opportunities for qualified candidates around the world. The company holds recruiting bases in the UK, Poland, Germany, Hungary, Asia-Pacific and the United States.